Page 4 of The Arcane God

“Leave it to me,” Turner said, bending down to pick up Ty’s ax where it lay on the snowy ground. Gripping the ax with both hands, he moved in front of the enormous white bear. It was still conscious, and its eyes tracked him as he moved. Its face was frozen in a snarl, its sharp teeth bared, as Turner lifted the ax and swung for its neck.

The ax connected with a thunk as Turner hacked off the bear’s head. It took two or three swings before its gruesome face toppled to the ground, landing in the snow, crimson soaking into the stark-white earth. Its body collapsed after, blood spurting from its neck as all its limbs went slack, finally freed from Ena’s visanis.

Ena swallowed, the sight of it both disgusting and somehow mesmerizing at the same time, but she felt relief, and a hint of sadness, all the same.

“Are we gonna talk about how strange that was?” Turner asked as he dropped the ax and came back over to them.

Ena immediately refocused on Ty as she began tugging at his clothing, getting him to remove his blood-soaked wool coat and shirt so she could see the wound better.

“What do you mean?” Ty asked through gritted teeth as Ena eased his shirt over his head, baring his sculpted, onata-covered chest to her, and revealing the wound.

Three slashing cuts ran jagged across his shoulder and chest—clearly from the bear’s claws—and despite what Ty had said, it was fairly deep, but, Gaia be blessed, not dangerously so. She was infinitely glad she’d intervened when she did, or likely both of them would have gotten much more hurt.

Wordlessly, Turner passed her some clean cloths and a needle and thread from their first-aid supply pack. “Why was it acting so aggressive? It beelined right for us. Attacked us out of nowhere. Shouldn’t it be hibernating this time of year anyway?” he asked.

“You’re right,” Ena replied, trying her hardest to ignore the alluring smell of Ty’s blood as she poured some woodwater onto his wound. He gritted his teeth to the pain, and she quickly dumped some on the needle as well before beginning to stitch it up. “It should have been hibernating, if it’s anything like the cassia bears back home. But when I used my Knowing on it, I could tell it was starving.”

“Maybe it’s been a harsh winter,” Ty offered as he pointedly looked away from what Ena was doing and stared at the star-filled sky.

“Maybe,” Ena echoed. She finished stitching his wound and tied off the thread before wrapping a clean bandage around him. He would heal fast—as all daemons did—as long as they kept it clean and he didn’t strain himself.

She glanced down at his blood-soaked shirt, intending to replace it with a new one from his pack, but as she picked it up, the smell of his blood hit her again. Her mouth watered, and she brought it to her nose, inhaling the scent. She knew that was a strange thing to do. She had no idea why she did it, and yet…she also could not stop the unbidden thought that maybe she should taste it. She could slip her tongue from her mouth right now, just to see what it would be like, and then…

“Well, now that you’re taken care of,” Turner said, clapping Ty on the shoulder and drawing Ena from her odd line of thinking, “I’m gonna go check on the horses and make sure they aren’t too spooked after all that.”

He walked over to where they had tethered the horses, leaving Ena and Ty alone.

“How are you feeling?” Ena asked Ty, reaching up to stroke his face. His beard was full and rough after weeks of travel, but she secretly relished its wildness as she ran her fingers across it.

“I’m fine, I promise,” Ty said, covering her hand with his own. “Come on, let’s finish setting up the tent so we can get you warm.”

She felt calmer knowing he was alright. Being in this foreign place, and with all the changes she was going through, she didn’t know what she would do if he’d been seriously injured. And she didn’t even want to think about the possibility of losing him.

Ty stood up, going to his pack to get their well-used canvas tent, and began to unfurl it in the spot Turner had cleared before the attack.

She watched him move—so confident, sturdy, protective. She knew she should tell him about the strange things going on with her, and she would. It wasn’t the first time she’d had that weird reaction to his blood. The last time had been after the unbinding ritual, and if anything, it was getting worse. But for right now, she just basked in his presence.

Because she truly didn’t know what she would do if she ever lost him.

Chapter Two

Ty

He and Ena set up the tent in record time, both of them eager to get inside and rest. Ty’s shoulder hurt like a bitch, but he ignored it, finding solace in Ena’s warm embrace as they finally lay down together on their sleep mats.

“How are you? And the baby?” he asked, placing a hand on her lower abdomen. He couldn’t feel anything yet, except maybe a slight protuberance. But he liked to do it all the same. “You fell to the ground pretty hard earlier.”

“We’re fine, I think,” she said, a smile tugging at the side of her mouth as it did whenever he talked about the baby. “But…” She paused briefly, as if wondering whether she should go on.

“What?” Ty asked, concern flooding him. “You know you can tell me anything, Ena. No matter how mundane, if it’s bothering you.”

Ena sighed. “I don’t want to make a big deal of it if it’s probably nothing, but I have never heard of a pregnancy symptom like this before.”

“Like what?” he said, his concern growing.

“Like craving…blood.”

“Blood?” Ty could barely hide the shock in his voice. He had not been expecting that. Was that normal?